itself English · revision 2584

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 1000 (Old English hit sylf)|origins=ang hit}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪtˈself/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English, from Old English hit self, from [[m|ang|hit|t=it]] and [[m|ang|self]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) that is, [[it]] and [[self]].^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline) The SOED notes that ''self'' was originally an adjective, but long interpreted as a noun,^(SOED 2002) and Etymonline that since the 17th century the word has usually been taken as “its self”, hence “its own self”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As a direct object: Old English, 971 in the OED;^(OED 1989) as an emphatic pronoun about 1000.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline dates the form ''itself'' to the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) From before 1300 to the 17th century it was also used as a possessive, “its own”.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) Used alone as a predicate, as in ''he is kindness itself'', it is from about 1600.^(OED 1989) ''By itself'', “apart; automatically”, is a common phrase.^(SOED 2002) In Yorkshire and Northamptonshire dialect ''itself'' could mean “himself, herself”, and was used as a term of endearment to a child.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 971 – Old English ''hit self''.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – ''itself''.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1300 – possessive, its own.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1600 – emphatic predicate.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # Used reflexively as the object of a verb or preposition: ''the cat washed itself''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Used for emphasis: ''the house itself''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Its normal state: ''the town is not itself''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[thing-in-itself]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[it]]

+ * [[its]]

+ * [[self]]

+ * [[himself]]

+ * [[herself]]

+ * [[themselves]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}